1. Technical Field
An aspect of the present invention relates to a multi-functional image forming apparatus.
2. Related Art
An image forming apparatus having an image reader unit and a document cover unit has been conventionally known. In the image forming apparatus, the document cover unit may be rotatable with respect to the image reader unit (see FIGS. 10A-10C). The conventional image forming apparatus 200 shown in FIGS. 10A-10C is provided with a document cover 230, which is rotatable with respect to an image reader unit 220 about a first hinge 231, whilst the image reader unit 220 is rotatable about a second hinge 221 with respect to a main body 210.
Additionally to the rotating movement, the document cover 230 is also movable vertically with respect to the image reader unit 220 (see FIG. 10B) when, for example, a user wishes to have a page in a document with substantial thickness (e.g., a book) read by the image reader unit 220. In order to enable the vertical movement of the document cover 230 including the first hinge 231, the image forming apparatus 200 is provided with a supporting piece 233, which supports the vertical movement of the first hinge 231. Further, the image reader unit 200 is provided with a frame 235, which accommodates the supporting piece 233 therein when the document cover 230 is in a lower position. In order to have the image reader unit 220 to read the page in a book with thickness, the supporting piece 233 is required to have substantial height, and the frame 235 to accommodate the supporting piece 233 is required to have substantial height accordingly. Meanwhile, when downsizing of the image forming apparatus 200 is required, it is preferable that the image reader unit 220 is designed to be smaller in height thereof. However, when the image reader unit 220 is designed to be smaller in the height, and when the frame 235 is designed to have substantial height, a lower edge of the frame 235 may protrude downward beyond the height of the image reader unit 220.